Martinsburg daily gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1887-1887, 1887-07-16
SATURDAY, JULY IS, 1887.
THE HOTEL KITCHEN DOOR.
Many Curious Charities Dispensed by
Hotel aIen IN New York.

Many Curious Charities Dispensed by
Hotel aIen il New York.
"There goes one of them,n said Clerk
Hord, OF the Victoria hotel.
lie pointed to neatly dressed and gen.
ticGlanly appearing man, who was climb
iag up tho first fight of stairs from the
e..lcc. He had been talking about the
charities dispensed by the hotels, and had
remarked that few people had any idea of
tie amount given away by hotel propri-
cto:s every t!ay.
Il don't believe there's a hotel in New
York which does not daily feed great
many poor families. Naturally there is a
rood deal Of waste, especially where
Lotcls arc run on the American plan at
70 TlCch q day, and there could be no bet
tes wy Of disposin& of the surplus.
livery Iaorning at the back kitchen door
cf The Victoria yon will End score or
l.gorc Of poor people waiting for their dole.
Tho came sight can be seen at all the
ether hotels
Exit cbout cur friend who just went up
stc...sssg What has he to do with this back
t.oar hnsinesss''
..Gi, that's ii horse of another color
BE have three grades of charities. First
i .icre are the poor people who make no dis
gtiisc of their poverty and so direct to the
l.:tchcn door. Then we have the semi
respectable element that comes to the
counter and asks for something to eat.
IL they look shabby, as they generally do,
VIC refer them to the kitchen, where the
servants eat, and they get a good meal.
-sEt they can't get it eyeEg day. We keep
tally on the faces of these fellows, and
when they try to become chronic we chase
them off The third class is the most
Interesting. 1t is eminently genteel, like
the man you saw climbing the stairs to
tie dining room d few minutes ago. For
ore reason or another q man may be
stranded in big town like this for days
1t time. Hc has no friends, and until
re:icf comes he is half desperate Scarcely
Il day passes when one of this class does
net coiac in here to the desk, tell his story,
ss..ld ask rs to give him something to eat.
lie is well dressed. There is nothing In
lis appearance that would offend any Of
the guests in the dining room, which is q
i:sattcr We have to consider, of course. We
ask il lie has ever been here before. He
says TO. II he was q regular we should
know him in q minute, for we don't pro-
pose to run caravansary for beats OF
t-anps. Then, in order to make him feel
the embarrassment Of his position as little
\ lyNtSSlDAC, w EAfO Hill u uObC W pICnCIt
20 the head waiter when he enters the
dining room, and he is treated with just
the same courtesy as one Of the regular
guests.
do you know 1t is funny thing, but
we have entertained many an angel un-
aEarcs in this way. Not greatowhile
ago very impressive looking man came
TO the lesk, and, saying he was in bad
luck and perfect stranger in the city,
\ asked Us to give him breakfast. He
said he had just landed from Australia
aEl was awaiting remittance from Eng
l.nd. Well, we took no stock in that part
Ct Lis sto.y, but he got the breakfast all
tic same, and he was most profuse in his
thanks. 1t must have been nearly a
month before we saw him again. Then
he entered the hotel very modestly, reeog-
i:zed the clerk who had befriended him
and asked for suite Of rooms on the par
lor floor. At the same time he asked the
clerk to take care of about e2, 900, mostly
i'll English money. It turned out that he
/ was the young son of an English lord,
who had been trotting around the globe
and had simply missed connections when
he reached New York. He was with MS
for three months, and before he left had
knocked q large hole III that 50 no